Law enforcement officers honored

Wednesday

Dec 5, 2012 at 3:00 PM

By Scott Brand

Six members of the law enforcement community were honored at Monday’s meeting of the Sault Ste. Marie City Commission for their actions over the past year. Police Chief John Riley presented the various awards.

DeShano and Natzke were the first officers to respond on Dec. 21, 2011 after a woman was observed in the power canal near the Fort Street Bridge. The two men responded by climbing over a nearby fence and making their way to the water where Natzke lowered his duty belt to the woman, while DeShano made secured the border patrol officer.

The woman was towed to a part of the canal where she could be safely removed from the water and subsequently made a full recovery.

Officer Derek O’Dell and Officer John Weist received the Medal of Honor — the highest award that can be given by the Sault Police Department to a surviving officer — following their Feb. 12, 2012 rescue.

O’Dell and Weist were the first responders to arrive at a structure fire in the 1300 block of Augusta. The pair heard a woman who was unable to crawl to safety calling for help inside, and immediately entered the burning structure. Acting in tandem, the two officers were able to crawl through the smoke and flames to extract the woman.

“Without giving it a second thought, you both placed yourselves at extreme risk to save the life of another human being,” said Riley in presenting the honor. “It is actions such as this when officers are deserving of recognition for going well above and beyond normal duty.”

O’Dell and Weist were both hospitalized for smoke inhalation after pulling the woman from the fire. The woman was initially conveyed to War Memorial Hospital and later sent to a downstate facility for further treatment before recovering from the injuries she sustained in the fire.

Officer Nathan Kaczmarek and Officer Brian Mattson were awarded the Sault Police Department’s Merit Commendation for their actions on May 25, 2012.

Kaczmarek and Mattson were on routine patrol in the vicinity of Young and Newton streets when they detected an odor of smoke on the air. The two men continued to track the source of the smell to the 1000 block of Bingham where they spotted flames coming from a residence.

Kaczmarek grabbed a nearby garden house and began fighting the fire, while Mattson entered the structure to check for anyone inside.

The occupants, who had been asleep, were awakened and removed uninjured.

Officer Kaczmarek also received a second honor at Monday’s meeting stemming from an Oct. 2, 2012 incident at a local lodging establishment. Kaczmarek arrived to find an unresponsive 66-year-old woman in full cardiac arrest and began doing CPR. The woman arrived at War Memorial Hospital with a pulse and was later transferred to another medical facility.

“Your dedication to your duties and the people of this community speak highly of your professionalism,” said Riley in bestowing the second honor on Officer Kaczmerak.

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